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Genus Bononiae - museums in the city: the 3D movie

The first 3D stereo HD movie created for a museum. The goal is to tell the story of Bologna with a cartoon, historically validated. Not just a movie but a 3D short film in which viewers can enjoy a journey through 2700 years of Bolognese history.

A two year work and a team of 20 people, including director Giosuè Boetto, the art director Enrico Valenza, the character designer Stefano Meazza, the animation director Giampaolo Fragale, IT people at CINECA, among which the project supervisors Antonella Guidazzoli and Silvano Imboden, and several scholars in charge for the scientific accuracy of the virtual reconstruction of 6 different historical sets.

The film brings the visitor through the Etruscan, then Roman, Medieval, Renaissance Bologna until the eighteenth and nineteenth century final walk. The "guide" is a funny character found on a bronze vase at the Archaeological Museum of Bologna. He is a small man with a big belly, short legs and a hat such as Speedy Gonzales’. The designers have given an interpretation true to his nature and then a name, Apa (father, in Etruscan), and a voice, that of Lucio Dalla, was given to him.

The movie was at Siggraph Asia 2011, held in Hong Kong, as a Multimedia Posters and has been awarded at eContentAward Italy 2011 as the best Italian product (ex aequo) in the category eCulture and Heritage for "preserving and presenting Cultural Heritage in line with the challenges of the future demonstrating valuable cultural assets clearly and informatively using state-of-the-art technology". It also earned a special mention for the eLearning and Education section.

In the gallery, images coming from the making of and from the short version presented at Future Film Festival.